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Tuesday, April 26, 2011

According to Brad Richards,
one of the biggest issues with him staying in Dallas has been the uncertainty
of their ownership situation.David
Shoalts of the Toronto Globe
& Mail is reporting that the ownership roadblock to Richards staying in
Dallas is getting closer to being resolved.Shoalts reports that Tom Gaglardi, a Vancouver businessman, has taken
another step forward in the process to buy the Stars and that he could be the
owner as soon as the end of May.

One of the biggest stumbling blocks let in the process is whether or not
bankruptcy court will be needed to complete the sale.

Declaring bankruptcy is opposed by the NHL, according to the source, but it
is viewed as a necessity because of the Stars’ long list of creditors. It is
hoped the sale can be completed by the end of May, but that is not certain as
the bidders who lost out to Gaglardi in this round could resurface in
bankruptcy court.

Brandon Worley at Defending
Big D, points out that this isn’t the end of the process and by no means

indicates this is a lock to be finished.

Two very important facts to take note of from this report, if true: This is
the closest we’ve been to the sale actually going through since the team was
put on the market well over a year ago, and just because Gagliardi has agreed
to terms doesn’t mean that the sale is anywhere near final. He still has,
apparently, a 30 day window of exclusive negotiating to narrow down the price
and terms of the sale and there’s also the very real chance this thing has to
go to bankruptcy court first.

While not exactly a certainty, it appears that the sale getting done prior
to the unofficial “deadline” of July 1st is getting closer to becoming a very
real possibility.

In terms of the Rangers pursuit of Richards, Dallas getting a stable
ownership situation would certainly hinder the chances of him leaving, but it
is not nearly as certain as Shoalts makes it seem.A stable Dallas is likely Richards first
choice, but the longer this process drags on the more he will start to mentally
think about being elsewhere and the lure of New York, and playing for coach
John Tortorella again will creep into his mind.Certainly not a great development for the Rangers, but not a death blow
just yet.

Earlier I posted about Derek Stepan being added to Team USA for the World Championships. News keeps changing as now Kevin Allen of USA Today is reporting that Rangers' defenseman Ryan McDonagh will also be added to the Team USA roster for the tournament. Being selected for the tournament is a great thing for McDongah as it gives him even more experience on a big stage to add to the development he had as a rookie NHL player. McDonagh had one goal and eight assists while recording an impressive plus-sixteen rating in 40 regular season games with the Rangers this year. In the playoffs he did not score, but once again showed that he is not intimidated by any stage or any opponent. He will get to do that again as a member of Team USA.

Having Kreider, Stepan and McDonagh on Team USA will only increase the interest of Rangers fans in how the team fares and gives yet another glimpse of how bright the future is going to be on Broadway.

The New York Rangers season might be over, but the team will
have a presence at the upcoming World Championships.Kevin Allen of USA Today tweeted
that Derek Stepan will be on the Team USA squad along with prospect Chris
Kreider.The pair has played together
before, most notably, at the 2010 U-20 World Junior Championships in which they
played on the same line and helped win the gold medal. The two have shown excellent chemistry together in the past and it would be an easy coaching move to put them on a line with one another during the tournament.

Along with Stepan, Marian Gaborik will play for Slovakia in
the tournament, while Artem Anisimov, Vinny Prospal and Henrik Lundqvist all
will be sitting out the festivities.